2008 to 2012 - A New Look (USA)

The Monopoly game has been standardized throughout the world and the new look was launched here on WorldofMonopoly.com. No longer is Monopoly the "Property trading Game from Parker Brothers", but is now "The Fast-Dealing Property Trading Game". The box on the #9 is now green and Mr. Monopoly is reaching out to shake your hand over a revamped "MONOPOLY" logo. The board is now visible from Pennsylvania Ave. to Oriental Ave. with "GO" (in Black) pointing down at the bottom center of the box. Also, Mediterranean Ave. and Baltic Ave. are now in brown like the rest of the world instead of purple.

Inside are where the greatest changes can be found. Upon opening the box the first thing you'll notice is that the Title Deeds, Chance, and COMMUNITY CHEST cards have been replaced by what appears to be a deck of cards. No longer are the Title Deeds 2 5/8 by 3 and the Chance and COMMUNITY CHEST cards 3 by 1 3/4, but all cards are now 2 1/4 by 3 1/2. The familiar yellow and orange card stock is also gone. Both are printed on white stock with the backs on the Chance cards two-tone orange with a white question mark, and the COMMUNITY CHEST two-tone blue with a treasure chest.

Next you'll notice that there's only 8 tokens. Missing are the cannon, horse and rider, and (after a less than 10 year run) the money bag. The houses, hotels, and dice look the same except the speed die is now red.

As you open the board you'll notice the new logo in the center of the board. Next, "GO" is no longer orange but smaller and black. Mediterranean and Baltic are brown! The rest of the board looks much the same as it always has with two exections. You no longer need a calculator when landing on Income Tax. The 10% option is gone and the penalty is a staight $200. The other change is Luxury Tax. The penalty is no longer $75 but $100. These make the U.S.A> edition the same as the rest of the world has been.

Now, to the rules. It appears that Hasbro has attempted to simplify these. They are less wordy and easier to follow. The biggest thing that stood out to me was the initial distribution on of money has changed. No longer is it 2,2,2,6,5,5,5 but is now:

$500 - 2; $100 - 4; $50 - 1; $20 - 1; $10 - 2; $5 - 1; $1 - 5

This would seem to be a cost saving measure as fewer bills would have to be put in each game.